US Congressional leaders have been unable to agree on funding, and the federal government has been shut down indefinitely since the 1st of Ocotber, with no clarity on how government funding will continue, according to Politico.
Leaders from both parties, anticipating the inevitable shutdown, have blamed their ideological rivals. US President Donald Trump signaled earlier this week that Republicans were willing to discuss extending health care funding in exchange for Democrats’ support for a funding bill, but soon took to social media to criticize Democratic leaders.
The shutdown means that about 750,000 federal workers will not receive their salaries and will be forced to take unpaid leave. Some of them could also get in the way of the White House’s plan to reduce the number of government employees. Hours before the shutdown, Trump met with reporters in the Oval Office and said the shutdown was the last thing anyone wanted, but it could also be a good thing: “We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.”
The official order to shut down government agencies was issued on the evening of the 30th of September, and the Trump administration has blamed Democrats for taking an untenable position that makes it impossible to predict the duration of the shutdown.
No legislation has been passed for the new fiscal year, which begins in the United States on the 1st of October, and
this is the first full shutdown of the federal government since 2013.
During his previous term, Trump oversaw three partial shutdowns, the longest of which lasted 35 days.
Some Republicans have talked about possible compromises, while insisting that a deal on government funding must first be reached. US Vice President JD Vance told reporters on September 29, after meeting with Democratic leaders, that any talks on the health care budget can only take place if the government is functioning.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Democrats’ desire to extend the health care funding model introduced by Barack Obama is an attempt to distract from more important issues.
The rift between the parties has widened after Trump released a video mocking Democratic party leaders.
After Democrats called the video bigoted and intolerant, Trump released another video.
Trump said in an interview with Politico that he was not concerned about what the polls showed because “people are smart enough to figure out what’s going on.” He added that Democrats are crazy.
The White House has said it will use the shutdown to continue restructuring the federal government. State agencies are required to report on programs that use discretionary funding. This will allow the White House to shut down programs that don’t align with Trump’s priorities.
No talks are currently scheduled between congressional leaders.
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